PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's twin spacecraft to study the moon from crust to core are nearing their New Year's Eve and New Year's Day main-engine burns to place the duo in lunar orbit.

Named Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), the spacecraft are scheduled to be placed in orbit beginning at 1:21 p.m. PST (4:21 p.m. EST) for GRAIL-A on Dec. 31, and 2:05 p.m. PST (5:05 p.m. EST) on Jan. 1 for GRAIL-B.

"Our team may not get to partake in a traditional New Year's celebration, but I expect seeing our two spacecraft safely in lunar orbit should give us all the excitement and feeling of euphoria anyone in this line of work would ever need," said David Lehman, project manager for GRAIL at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

The distance from Earth to the moon is approximately 250,000 miles (402,336 kilometers). NASA's Apollo crews took about three days to travel to the moon. Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sept. 10, 2011, the GRAIL spacecraft are taking about 30 times that long and covering more than 2.5 million miles (4 million kilometers) to get there.

This low-energy, long-duration trajectory has given mission planners and controllers more time to assess the spacecraft's health. The path also allowed a vital component of the spacecraft's single science instrument, the Ultra Stable Oscillator, to be continuously powered for several months. This will allow it to reach a stable operating temperature long before it begins making science measurements in lunar orbit.

"This mission will rewrite the textbooks on the evolution of the moon," said Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. "Our two spacecraft are operating so well during their journey that we have performed a full test of our science instrument and confirmed the performance required to meet our science objectives."

As of Dec. 28, GRAIL-A is 65,860 miles (106,000 kilometers) from the moon and closing at a speed of 745 mph (1,200 kph). GRAIL-B is 79,540 miles (128,000 kilometers) from the moon and closing at a speed of 763 mph (1,228 kph).

During their final approaches to the moon, both orbiters move toward it from the south, flying nearly over the lunar south pole. The lunar orbit insertion burn for GRAIL-A will take approximately 40 minutes and change the spacecraft's velocity by about 427 mph (688 kph). GRAIL-B's insertion burn 25 hours later will last about 39 minutes and is expected to change the probe's velocity by 430 mph (691 kph).

The insertion maneuvers will place each orbiter into a near-polar, elliptical orbit with a period of 11.5 hours. Over the following weeks, the GRAIL team will execute a series of burns with each spacecraft to reduce their orbital period from 11.5 hours down to just under two hours. At the start of the science phase in March 2012, the two GRAILs will be in a near-polar, near-circular orbit with an altitude of about 34 miles (55 kilometers).

When science collection begins, the spacecraft will transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them as they orbit the moon. As they fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity, caused both by visible features such as mountains and craters and by masses hidden beneath the lunar surface. they will move slightly toward and away from each other. An instrument aboard each spacecraft will measure the changes in their relative velocity very precisely, and scientists will translate this information into a high-resolution map of the Moon's gravitational field. The data will allow mission scientists to understand what goes on below the surface. This information will increase our knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds we see today.

JPL manages the GRAIL mission. MIT is home to the mission's principal investigator, Maria Zuber. The GRAIL mission is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

Welcome to GRAIL MoonKAM

In 2011, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission launched twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the Moon to measure its gravity in unprecedented detail. The mission will answer key questions about the Moon's internal structure and give scientists a better understanding of how our solar system formed.

GRAIL MoonKAM will allow classrooms to request pictures of the lunar surface from cameras on the twin satellites. As we count down to the MoonKAM mission, we will be adding exciting features and resources to this site, including student activities, teacher guides, and more.

Says launched 10 September but will take some time getting to the Moon.-------------------------------------------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Recovery_and_Interior_LaboratoryThe Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) is an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program, which will use high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraft GRAIL A and GRAIL B were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10.[1][3][4]GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch,GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later.They will arrive at their orbits around the Moon 24 hours apart.[5]

The science phase of the mission will last for 90 days. Following the science phase (or extended mission phase), a five-day decommissioning period is planned, after which the spacecraft will impact the lunar surface in about 40 days.[6] The gravity mapping technique is similar to that used by Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), and the spacecraft design is based on XSS-11.[7]

Unlike the Apollo program missions, which took three days to reach the Moon, GRAIL will make use of a three- to four-month low-energy trans-lunar cruise via the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1 to reduce fuel requirements, protect instruments and reduce the velocity of the two spacecraft at lunar arrival to help achieve the extremely low 50 km (31 mi) orbits with separation between the spacecraft (arriving 24 hours apart) of 175 to 225 km (109 to 140 mi).[8][9] The very tight tolerances in the flight plan leaves little room for error correction leading to a launch window lasting one second and providing only two launch opportunities per day.[10]

Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is GRAIL's principal investigator. The mission's team of expert scientists and engineers also includes former NASA astronaut Sally Ride, who will lead the mission's public outreach efforts. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the project. As of August 5, 2011, the program has cost US$496 million.[11]-------------------------------------------------

A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket successfully sent NASA's twin moon-bound GRAIL spacecraft on their way at 9:08 a.m. EDT on Sept. 10, 2011. The launch came during the second window of the day when upper-level winds proved out of limits during the day's first opportunity, just as they had during the first launch attempt on Sept. 8.

The twin spacecraft will study the moon in unprecedented detail.GRAIL-A is scheduled to reach the moon on New Year's Eve 2011, while GRAIL-B will arrive New Year's Day 2012. The two solar-powered spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits around the moon to measure its gravity field. GRAIL will answer longstanding questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.

-------------------------------------------------http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/grail/home.cfmsnipWelcomeThe Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission will create the most accurate gravitational map of the moon to date, improving our knowledge of near-side gravity by 100 times and of far-side gravity by 1000 times. The high-resolution gravitational field, especially when combined with a comparable- resolution topographical field, will enable scientists to deduce the moon's interior structure and composition... More >

GRAIL’s primary science objectives will be to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the Moon. As a secondary objective, GRAIL will extend knowledge gained from the Moon to the other terrestrial planets

In 2011, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission launched twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the Moon to measure its gravity in unprecedented detail. The mission will answer key questions about the Moon's internal structure and give scientists a better understanding of how our solar system formed.

GRAIL MoonKAM will allow classrooms to request pictures of the lunar surface from cameras on the twin satellites. As we count down to the MoonKAM mission, we will be adding exciting features and resources tothis site, including student activities, teacher guides, and more.

WASHINGTON - NASA released the fourth in a series of 60-day reports
today showing that commercial spaceflight development programs are
moving forward. The agency's U.S. industry partners continue to make
progress in developing a transportation system to ferry cargo and U.S.
astronauts to the International Space Station. The development
of industry systems will allow NASA to concentrate its resources on
deep space exploration.

The latest status report highlights the progress and accomplishments
for the agency's commercial spaceflight development efforts. The
bi-monthly report is targeted toward non-technical stakeholders and
the American public, to inform them of NASA's achievements in
maintaining spaceflight leadership.

NASA's Commercial Spaceflight Development programs are investing
financial and technical resources to stimulate efforts within the
private sector to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable, and
cost-effective space transportation capabilities.

-------------------------------------------http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/
snip
Commercial space transportation is a vital component to the future
of human space exploration. As NASA charts a new course to send humans
deeper into space than ever before, we are stimulating efforts within
the private sector to develop and operate safe, reliable and
affordable commercial space transportation systems. Once the
capabilities are matured and available to the government and other
customers, NASA could purchase commercial services to transport crew
and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and low Earth
orbit.

This approach will provide assured access to the ISS, strengthen
America's space industry and provide a catalyst for future business
ventures to capitalize on affordable access for space.

During the flight, the Dragon spacecraft will conduct a series of
check-out procedures to test and prove its systems in advance of a
rendezvous with the International Space Station. The primary
objectives for the flight include a fly-by of the space station at a
distance of approximately two miles to validate the operation of
sensors and a flight system necessary for a safe rendezvous and
approach. The spacecraft also will demonstrate the capability to abort
the rendezvous.

International news media representatives without U.S. citizenship must
apply for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities by
Jan. 5. The early accreditation deadline is needed because the U.S.
Air Force requires 30 days to process international media credentials.
For U.S. news media, the deadline to apply is Jan. 30.

The agreements posted today are an interim proactive public release
based on submitter consent immediately available. A process has been
initiated to receive and consider detailed submitter positions as
contemplated by 14 CFR 1206.610 before posting a final version on the
KSC FOIA webpage.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/chertok_obit.html
Russian rocket designer Boris Yevseyevich Chertok,
one of the founding
fathers of the Russian space program,
passed away on Dec.14 at the age
of 99.
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Russian rocket designer Boris Yevseyevich ChertokImage Credit: NASA
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[Update from Geoff - http://rt.com/news/chertok-russia-space-science-795/ - nice video here - LRK -]Rocket designer Boris Chertok, a man whose name figures in almost every major Soviet space achievement and one of the greatest space pioneers in history, has passed away at his home in Moscow at the age of 99

I received an e-mail from Steve Garber for the NASA History Program Office about the death of Boris Chertok.
He provided some information about his four volume memoir, "Rockets and People" and its availability on-line.
A
check of Amazon . com showed that even used books are quite pricy so
maybe you won't mind reading a PDF version before buying. http://www.amazon.com/Rockets-People-V-Boris-Chertok/dp/0160732395

With great sadness, our office announces the recent death
of Boris Chertok, a towering figure in Soviet and Russian space
history. Chertok’s four-volume memoir, Rockets and People, has
received wide acclaim. The first three volumes of
this series, edited by Dr. Asif Siddiqi, are available electronically
from the links below and hard copies may be obtained through http://history.nasa.gov/series95.html#order
online. The fourth and final volume, subtitled The Moon Race, will be published early next year. For more information on Chertok’s tremendous life story, see http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/chertok_obit.htmlonline. In sympathy,

By Asif A. Siddiqi, visiting scholar, Space, Policy, and Society
Research Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology For those
interested in the history of Russian space exploration, and more broadly
in the history of space exploration during the Cold War, the memoirs of
Boris Chertok provide a striking and unique perspective. Chertok is one
of those rare actors in history who not only played a critical role in
the program but has been able to convey with grace and eloquence his
experiences to the broader public. For over 40 years, Chertok worked at
the senior-most levels of the famous “OKB-1” design bureau, which in its
present incarnation as the Energiya Rocket-Space Corporation continues
to play a leading role in the Russian human spaceflight program.